How Not to Grow Hydroponic Herbs

My friends over at the Parent Bloggers Network offered some educational toys to try out for the 8-12 year old set, and since Alex is almost 8, I volunteered.  We received a Hydro Greenhouse from the Discovery Channel in short order, and from the day it arrived, Alex could not wait to open it up and start growing vegetables.  He had visions of growing miniature tomato plants or carrots or maybe a ginormous mutant pumpkin like the ones we'd seen at the Alaska State Fair one year. 

One day, as I was busy in the kitchen, Alex decided to take it upon himself to start growing his giant vegetables.  He pulled out the box and and dumped all the chalky white "growing medium" and everything he could find in the box into the plastic basin.  He yelled at me when he finished this.  I walked in to find "growing medium" all over my oriental rug,  on his clothes and in his hair, as though he'd decided to roll himself in breadcrumbs to get ready to be deep-fried.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"I'm starting my garden," he said proudly.  "Only, I don't know where the seeds are." 

I sat down and started scooping up growing medium off the floor and putting it into the terrerium basin.  I picked up the instruction booklet and looked it over, and read "Seeds not included."

"We have to buy seeds.  Did you read the instructions?"

"No.  Too many words.  I just figured it out myself," he replied sheepishly.

"You know, before you begin a project like this, it's a good idea to read the instruction booklet."  I said, imparting what I thought was an important life lesson.  He shrugged, with an insouciant look on his face that just said, "Whatever."

We cleaned up the mess and put the thing away until we could buy some seeds.

A few weeks passed, and my parents came for a visit.  The Hydro Greenhouse sat on a shelf in the dining room.  My mom asked what it was, and Alex proudly told her it was his garden.  She gave me a look that said, "poor, pathetic city child has a bowl with no dirt in it and thinks it's a garden."

He told her nothing was growing because we didn't have seeds.  She suggested that maybe we go buy some seeds.  She's quick, my mother.

A trip to the hardware store, and we had 2 packs of parsley and basil seeds.  I didn't think the little terrerium was big enough to grow a giant eggplant, but basil is one of the ingredients in Alex's favorite pasta dish, so we opted for herbs instead.  Alex and my mom busily set out to plant the seeds.

After about a half hour, they yelled for me to come and figure out how to put the plastic cover over the plants and insert the water bottle upside down into the hole.  They had planted a couple of rows of seeds, basil on one side, parsley on the other.  I managed to wrangle the plastic cover on, and we set it on the kitchen windowsill to wait for our herb garden to grow.

After about a week, Alex was thrilled to find some tiny green buds of basil poking up through the pale white growing medium. 

A week later, all but one of the buds unceremoniously died.  There was no sign of the parsley.

Two weeks later, still no sign of parsley, but the one stalwart basil plant sprouted a couple of leaves. 

Four weeks later, the parsley made it's first appearance, with about a dozen tiny sprouts dotting the landscape.  A week later, they all died, except one skinny stalk that pushed upward.

Six weeks later, the basil was a veritable bush, with eight or nine leaves, and the skinny parsley stalk continued to grow.  The water in the water bottle ran out, so I changed it, and decided to dump the rest of the seeds into the growing medium, in the hope that we could fill out the space.  Even though I thought I put them fairly deep in the growing medium, all the seeds floated up to the top. 

I think it is safe to say that I have a black thumb.  Alex was non-plussed by our lack of crop-yield, and was thrilled that one of his basil plants and one parsley plant were thriving.  There is now enough basil to make Rigatoni with Sweet Sicilian Sausage, Alex's favorite dish.  I'd better hurry, because with my luck, the basil will probably keel over any day now.

The Hydro Greenhouse is a cool toy, and I'm glad we got to do this little experiment.  I asked Alex for his review of this product and he said, "I like it!"

I'd like to get another one of these things and maybe, you know, try following the directions.  We might even get enough basil for two meals.

Comments

[Cheap hotels New York]

Last time when i went to NYC i bought one to me son also, he made all of those cute veggies=). I look forward to read what you're gonna do next.

[BOSSY]

Sounds familiar... have you been spying on Bossy?

[Nicole]

Ha. I too have a black thumb. I have a jade plant my mother gave me and it thrives on neglect.

This year, I decided I would plant a couple of tomato plants, two lettuce plants and a bunch of radishes. And two different kinds of basil.

When I planted them it was warm and sunny and they grew like crazy in their pots (I live in a townhouse so I have no garden).

Its been about 10 celsius (50F) for the last few days - this is our high temperature.

The lettuce, radishes and herbs continue to grow like weeds. There may be some weeds in there for all I know.

But I fear for the tomatoes which need lots of sun. Sigh.

[Angie in Texas]

try doing it again in the same container and with some "miracle grow" potting soil and with less water . . . or you could just buy a small basil plant and put it in there?

(i think it's cool he liked it and gets to eat the fruit of his (mom's) labor!)

[Expat Mom]

Your son sounds like a true male . . . never reading the instructions! :D That looks like fun, similar to experiments we did as children with a cut up 2 L soda bottle.

[jaelithe]

My guess is that your plants did not get enough sunlight. Basil looooooooooves the sun, and if it doesn't get enough, it gets wilty super-quick. It would want to be on a south-facing windowsill, with nothing in between it and the glass, and of course you'd need to rotate it every couple of days to prevent it from leaning. If you can't manage that, I'd recommend putting it on a windowsill in a room where the light is on most of the day.

In a container that size I'd estimate you could probably grow a maximum of four herb plants. Many more than that and they'll be rootbound pretty quickly.

[Ron Rivera]

I think it is safe to say that I have a black thumb. Alex was non-plussed by our lack of crop-yield, and was thrilled that one of his basil plants and one parsley plant were thriving.

[chris Teys]

yea needs sunlight, and not all the medium should be wet mound it up a bit so you get some air roots!!! if your looking for cheap fertiliser mix miracle grow tomato food the stuff that has a low urea content and high potassium nitrate (KNO3). mix it in your water to 1/4 strength on the back of the packet, oh and a sprinkle of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). happy growing !!

[chris Teys]

yea needs sunlight, and not all the medium should be wet mound it up a bit so you get some air roots!!! if your looking for cheap fertiliser mix miracle grow tomato food the stuff that has a low urea content and high potassium nitrate (KNO3). mix it in your water to 1/4 strength on the back of the packet, oh and a sprinkle of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). happy growing !!

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This year, I decided I would plant a couple of tomato plants, two lettuce plants and a bunch of radishes. And two different kinds of basil.

When I planted them it was warm and sunny and they grew like crazy in their pots (I live in a townhouse so I have no garden

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We received a Hydro Greenhouse from the Discovery Channel in short order

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